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PubMed1976

Construct validity of the Holtzman Inkblot Anxiety and Hostility scores.

The group version of the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT), the IPAT Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (ASQ), the Manifest Hostility Scale (MHS), and the Hand Test (HT) were administered to 72 college subjects in an attempt to clarify the nature of the HIT Anxiety (Ax) and Hostility (Hs) scores. The Ax score was found to correlate significantly with the ASQ total score which represents both overt and covert anxiety. The Hs score was found to correlate significantly with the MHS, which is sensitive to moderate levels of verbal hostility, but not with the HT Acting Out Ratio (AOR), which is strictly a measure of overt aggressiveness. The HIT Ax and Hs scores were concluded to relate most closely with measures that encompass a wide spectrum of the variable in question.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1992

[Cognitive style of schizophrenic patients: ambiguity avoidance and decreased abstract thinking].

The hypothesis of specific cognitive dynamics in schizophrenics is derived and tested in this study. This cognitive style should be characterized by a reduction of cognitive ambiguity and could be demonstrated in borderline patients in a previous study. This hypothesis is tested by applying Ertel's (1972) DOTA-dictionary to responses of 25 acute and 25 chronic schizophrenics in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique. Furthermore the level of abstractness of the responses is investigated with the method of Günther and Groeben (1978). According to the results both groups of schizophrenics had a significantly higher "Dogmatismus-Quotient" (Ertel, 1972) than a sample of neurotics, but did not differ from borderline patients. Both acute and chronic schizophrenics used significantly less abstract nouns than borderline patients and neurotics. In contrast to borderline patients the reduction of cognitive ambiguity in schizophrenics is not connected with strong affects of anxiety and hostility.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Personality changes in chronic schizophrenic patients during five years' treatment with intensive psychotherapy in combination with depot neuroleptics I. Analysis of changes as measured by the Holtzman Inkblot Technique.

Twelve schizophrenic inpatients (experimental group) from one department of psychiatry were treated in an integrated programme lasting for at least 5 years (1967--1972). Two more patients participated during the last 4 years of the study. The treatment included depot neuroleptics in combination with individual and group psychotherapy. During the first 3 years of the investigation, the patients of the experimental group were urged to participate in individual and group psychotherapy twice a week. During the last 2 years patients were only offered group psychotherapy once a week. A matched sample of 13 schizophrenics (control group) was selected from other departments at the hospital. The main aim of this study was to describe and measure personality changes after this treatment programme as measured by the Holtzman Inkblot Technique. During the first 3 years of the investigation, a stable and continuously improved intellectual capacity and less disordered through processes were found, as measured by the Holtzman test. After a further 2 years a slight decrease in variables measuring intellectual capacity and more disordered thinking was found. Compared to the control group not receiving psychotherapy, the experimental group spent more days outside hospital during the observation period 1968--1975. The difference was not statistically significant, however. After 2 years of treatment the experimental group's of patients Activities of Daily Living (ADL performance) was increased -- at 5% level of statistical significance -- and it remained at about the same level throughout this investigation. The level of work performance, however, was not changed in this study. The patients in the experimental group were compared with two American reference groups; average adults and schizophrenics. After 3 years' treatment the experimental group had become more similar to the average adults than to the schizophrenics. Two years later a slight deterioration was found. Although psychotherapy seemed to have had additive positive effects in chronic schizophrenia, measures to prevent relapse must be considered.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2004

Quality of depressive experiences in borderline personality disorders: differences between patients with borderline personality disorder and patients with higher levels of personality organization.

Clinical observations suggest that depressive experiences in patients with borderline personality disorder have a specific quality. These experiences are characterized by emptiness and anger ("angry depression") and are associated with primitive forms of object relations. In this study, this observation was tested empirically. A sample of borderline inpatients (N=30) was compared with a sample of inpatients with higher levels of personality organization suffering from neurotic disorders (N=30). Depression and other affects were assessed by the Affective Dictionary Ulm (Dahl, Hölzer, & Berry, 1992). The quality of object relations was assessed by a scale developed by Urist (1977), which was applied to responses in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (Holtzman, Thorpe, Swartz, & Herron, 1961). Correlations were assessed between depression, on the one hand, and anger, anxiety, and the quality of object relations, on the other hand. The clinical observations were confirmed: In the patients with borderline personality disorder, depression showed significant correlations with the affects of anger, anxiety, and fear, and with primitive forms of object relations. In the patients with higher levels of personality organization, no such correlations were found. The results are discussed with regard to the understanding of borderline disorders, diagnosis, and therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Emotions as wishes and beliefs.

Emotions can be assessed by means of different diagnostic methods, for example, by self-report instruments, ratings of facial expressions, or by projective techniques. This study presents an alternative approach: a computerized investigation of verbally expressed emotions by means of the Affective Dictionary Ulm (ADU; Dahl, Hölzer, & Berry, 1992), which was applied to responses in the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT; Holtzman, 1988; Holtzman, Thorpe, Swartz, & Herron, 1961). A normal group (n = 30), patients with neurotic disorders (n = 30), borderline patients (n = 30), acute schizophrenics (n = 25), and chronic schizophrenics (n = 25) were compared in regard to verbally expressed emotions. According to the results, patients with neurotic disorders did not differ from the normal group in regard to verbally expressed emotions. Borderline patients expressed fear and emotions in general significantly more frequently than all other diagnostic groups. Furthermore, borderline patients differed in regard to specific emotions from patients with neurotic disorders, acute schizophrenics, and chronic schizophrenics. Acute schizophrenics did not differ from the normal group in regard to the expression of emotions, whereas chronic schizophrenics expressed anger, fear, anxiety, and emotions in general significantly less frequently than normals. By a discriminant analysis using verbally expressed emotions as predictors of the diagnosis, hit rates between 87% and 100% could be achieved. Furthermore, hypotheses about correlations between emotions on the one hand and internalized primitive object relations and bizarre-idiosyncratic thinking were tested empirically. Significant correlations could be demonstrated. These results support the validity of assessing emotions through a lexical content analysis of the HIT by use of the ADU.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Age, personality, and the Holtzman Inkblot Technique.

Recent longitudinal studies using personality questionnaires and ratings have shown remarkable stability across the adult years. In an investigation of age changes and differences in personality as measured by the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT), ninety-three men and women aged twenty-five to ninety were administered Form A of the HIT; forty-four of these were retested one to three years later. Stability coefficients ranged from .07 for Form Appropriateness to .73 for Form Definiteness, with most variables showing significant but moderate stability. Repeated measures analyses of variance showed increases in six variables and decreases in two others, but only one of these changes was paralleled by cross-sectional age differences. Correlations with self-report measures of the broad personality domains of neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience failed to show hypothesized relations, and the associations seen were attributable to chance. It was concluded that the HIT measures perceptual-cognitive variables that are moderately stable in adulthood.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Splitting: an empirical study.

In this study, the Rorschach scoring system for splitting developed by Lerner, Sugarman, and Gaughran (1981) was applied to the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT). Normal individuals (n = 30), patients with neurotic disorders (n = 30), patients with borderline personality disorder (n = 30), patients with acute schizophrenia (n = 25), and patients with chronic schizophrenia (n = 25) were studied with respect to their use of splitting. Sufficient interrater reliability was demonstrated for the scoring of splitting in the HIT. Significant differences between borderline patients, acute schizophrenic patients, and chronic schizophrenic patients, on the one hand, and patients with neurotic disorders, on the other hand, were demonstrated. Furthermore, it was shown that the indicators of splitting were associated with measures of identity diffusion, primitive defense mechanisms, and other measures of psychopathology. The Lerner indicator of splitting proved to be multidimensional. Different forms of splitting seem to be characteristic of borderline patients and schizophrenic patients. The application of the Lerner criteria of primitive defenses to the HIT appears to be promising.

Acute Disease↗